Battle Scars
by Skye Fae
Summary: A vampire-like smile. A whisper. All those who crossed me will pay. Alex goes to Brecon Beacons. Cold!Alex Dark!Alex.
1. Back to Hell

Be alert, even so far as paranoid. Never let your guard down. Constant vigilance. Alex had learnt all these since young and it had saved his life more than a few times. But then there was the healthy dose of luck, or Devil's luck as you might choose to call it. And hopefully it would come in handy this time again, and see him through.

For Alex Rider was going back to Brecon Beacons. But this time he would be ready, a snake among lions. A cold predatory smile grazed Alex's otherwise emotionless face, as he stared at the surroundings speeding past him from inside his place in a glinting black driver of the black limousine,as if with a sixth sense shivered,.his thoughts floating to the blond boy with old old old eyes, sitting in the back seat.

Flashback:

"_ALEXANDER JOHN RIDER! Get your bony arse over here right now!" Jack yelled, her voice shaking. Jacqueline, or Jack Starbright as she chose to be called, was a redhead. And as all of us here know, redheads are renowned for their temper. Jack was no exception, and was currently displaying one of those legendary bouts of anger now._

"_Why now of all days, god? Why will you never let me off the hook? Will you just give me a break?But as they say, no rest for the wicked." Alex thought in exasperation. "Coming Jack!" he called as he clomped his way down the stairs. He hoped she hadn't found anything too incriminating, as he didn't want to lie to her again. Jack was in his face as soon as he had reached the final rung. "Alex, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE?" She screamed at him, wildly gesturing with her hands while holding a piece of paper in his hands. The sun reflected off her shiny,metal legs._

_**Metal. Not flesh and blood. Egypt. Cairo. The explosion. **_

_**SCREAMING SCREAMING BLOOD COLD JACK DON'T DIE PLEASE DON'T**__**DIE**_

Scenario Change:

_Sabina's face. __**OH GOD HER FACE BLOOD SCREAMING**__ the skin hanging off her body in strips, her mouth carved in a permanent bloody smile, mocking him. Liz and Edward Pleasure, their tongues cut out. Multiple burn and whip marks scattered their bodies. Red in white. __**Red and white**__. A sea of red contrasting the stark white settings they were in, looking so haunted, unmoving, uncaring. They were dead dead dead dead._

Their backs had the shape of a scorpion carved in it.

Scenario Change:

_The Iraqi war. Bombs. Explosions. Deaths. How many shrieks for help had there been? How many had died? Alex was tired, bone achingly so. How much longer would it last? _

_Ben Daniels, his partner turned around him, __**concern?(no one except Jack had ever truly cared for him) **__shining in his blue eyes. "Al, I'm going to go now. I will be back in 5 hours. Heard something about a few of the others stuck in the other side of this hell-hole. Stay here and help. " Both of them knew what he meant by 'help'.His lips turned up in a rather weak semblance of a smile, eyes softening around the edges. "And stay safe, will you? Kill all the murdering bastards."_

_Alex had nodded mutely, not trusting himself to speak then._

_5 hours._

_9 hours._

_18 hours._

_28 hours._

"_Bear to Devil, repeat Bear to Devil, can you hear me? Over."_

"_Devil to Bear, crystal clear. Any news? Over."_

"_Bear to Devil, well there's a chap here asking for you. Brown hair, blue eyes. Pretty beat up if you ask me. He was found in the edge of a ravine, besides the minefields. Blown up somethin' awful. He keeps asking for you…."_

_As the American nattered on, Alex almost dropped the walkie-talkie he was holding. He was numb numb numb(this couldn't be happening Ben was __**NOT DEAD NOT DEAD**__). He stared at the ground, shell-shocked before his brain processed the information given fully and he started running._

_Running. To where he knew Ben would be. _

_He skidded to a halt. Mangled flesh. Blood. So much blood. But those blue eyes weren't sightless. Not yet. _

'_Lo, Alex. " Ben reached a hand out towards him...but it dropped back down shortly. He stared at it. Couldn't think. Need more time. _

"_Alex. Don't ever let things get you down. Stay strong. And keep specks of emotion in that frozen thing you call a heart." A smile. "Do not worry about me. I will be going to a...happier place. Stay safe, keep your friends safe." Sounds of coughing. A beautiful red pattern carved on the sand. "Never lose hope Al, if it's the last thing you do. For if you give up hope, you are dead inside."_

_Back to Flashback scene:_

_Jack stopped, peering at him closely."Alex?" He didn't even want to think about Tom or Yassen. "Alex! Snap out of it!" He jolted out of his trance-like state. "What?" _

_Her eyes softened and small frown lines appeared at the edge of her eyes.. "Alex, Cairo was not your fault. It will never, ever be your fault. Ok?"_

_He had nodded mutely. And just like that, those lines were gone and a bright sunny smile replaced them. "Good! Now, where were we?"_

_Her eyes flashed dangerously and Alex gulped. He was so not going to like this_…

"_Oh right. __**WHY THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU HAVE A WILL, A FUCKING WILL**__ now? I'm happy about the fact that I receive everything and if I die, the rest goes to my parents, but a will? Please! You are too young to die, or even think about dying!" Her eyes were red, and puffy._

_Alex had smiled, a morbid smile. "You're never too young to die, Jack."_

_End Flashback_

_Alex POV_:

_It hadn't worked, had it? Jack had still died. She was still just a lump in the ground, rotting away, acting as fertilizer. Scorpia had come and killed her, a bullet hole perfectly in the centre of her head. Symmetrical. Beautiful. Then the Bank had come and taken him away, and he had just went along, not even resisting because he was so cold, so numb. But they would pay. They would all pay. He smiled, a terrifyingly cold would make all of them regret crossing him. They would beware the last Rider._


	2. The Beginning

**Hey guys/gals. Firstly, I want to say thanks for reviewing to anyone who took the time to sit down and type a few words. PLEASE REVIEW! Favourites or follows are welcome as well:) I have no idea if I'm doing the right thing if you don't. This is my first fanfic, so any helpful tips or ideas are very much appreciated. Just PM me. Constructive criticism is a big yes. Hate mail? Not so much, haha. If you do send hate mail or reviews for **_**no specif**_**i**_**c reason. **_**you will get a PM from me, along with me displaying your message on my profile/stories. Oh, and Battle Scars is an actual song by Guy Sebastian and Lupe Fiasco. Go check it out:)**

**In this story, Alex will be 17, and I don't actually remember when his birthday is, so unless I decide to add his birthday(created date) or something, he will stay 17. In physical age. Alex will be quite advanced, for certain reasons which I will not reveal now, because I'm just mean that way.**

**I have put some hints in here. If you don't find them, (they are a more than a bit vague) I'll explain all...sometime. Thank you to my first reviewer:)**

**I like switching between POVs. I think its more interesting that way...and it's just my style.**

**This fanfic is set out to be a bit different. I've got the plot set out, now all I have to do is make sure I write it well. So. Review. Yeah. **

**Tell me if you like the quotes:)**

**Now, on to the story.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider or any other characters in this fanfic. Maybe if I kidnap Anthony Horowitz with my gang of awesome chappies…?

The Beginning

_**Things don't have to change the world to be important.**_

_**~Steve Jobs**_

_Pitter patter. Pitter patter. Raindrops against the windshield. _

"We're here." The driver announced, his eyes moving from side to side, looking everywhere except for at the boy with those _dead dead dead_ eyes. The boy in question gave him a short, sharp nod, taking his bags silently and getting out of the boot, _not slamming_ the door.

The boy's dead brown eyes darted from side to side, scanning for any minute detail which could result in his untimely and most _unfortunate _death. Not finding any potential threat, _**for now, **_he smoothened his face into a mask. He had various ones, but this one in particular projected just the right amount of friendliness, and guile. Had anyone been around,they would have been surprised to witness detached, blank face(_nevermind that it was a __**childe) **_into one of slight surprise and poorly hidden nervousness. Those unforgiving _cold _eyes had turned into something much more welcoming, an innocent light in them which just prompted you to _trust _them.

Alex smiled, a razor-sharp smile which broke his charade for a moment.

**They said that eyes were mirrors to the soul.**

How utterly _**wrong **_those poor fools were.

Sergeant John Sanders had encountered many people in his line of work. But he wondered yet again, if the person, or abomination known as a Hyper Eagle, would just _shut the hell up. _His right eye twitched in irritation as he tried to shut out the noise, knowing if he tried saying anything, it would get worse. "Is he here yet? When is he gonna come?SARGY!

I wanna seeeeee!"

Tapping his knuckle against the table, 'Sargy' sighed in exasperation. His mind conjured up various delightful scenarios, all which consisted of kicking Eagle the hell out of his office, into the pouring rain.

He was thankful though, for the fact that he was seated in his warm office, and not outside in the hell-storm that was going on, he mused. There was a reason that this place was nicknamed "Hell", after all. It had the most unpredictable weather, ranging from suffocatingly hot, to stingingly cold. It had hailed more than once here, but soldiers would continue their routine as usual. Today however,thankfully was a holiday, a welcome day off for those here.

A knock. Then two. At first the good Sergeant thought it was a figment of his imagination, conjured from trying to distract his mind from Eagle, but then he realised he really could hear a steady tapping out at his door. The rain was diminishing. He opened the cabin door, to witness a thoroughly soaked man, distinctly looking like a wet rat. His eyes carried a message of pride, and hardships, but at the same time managed to keep some of the innocence that came with would soon be stomped out, he thought cynically, and stepped to the side.

The respected Sergeant found himself face to face with a handsome man, about 22 years old. He looked like any other ordinary person though, forsaking the frowned. **This **_thing _was supposed to be among the top at M16? Their standards were declining rapidly. Perhaps they needed some Marines, or SAS soldiers to try and ramp up their _pathetic _little spies. Blunt was getting old. Maybe a suggestion to the Minister for a replacement?For everyone's benefit, of course.

He felt a flash of _something _passing through his mind, _something familiar _but it was gone too fast for him to be even sure it was there. The man's face remained slightly nervous. " You are from M16, and are here _**officially **_on leave, apparently." The Sergeant's voice dripped with contempt.

"Yes,sir". Alex replied swiftly, his eyes facing straight ahead, years of ingrained instincts kicking in. _He has some manners, at least. _

"Well then, I'm sure you'll have a very happy holiday, Jaguar." A sneer.

Now get your lazy arses out of my office, idiots!" With a eager nod, Jaguar turned on his heel and walked out briskly, followed by a trailing Eagle. The rain had stopped completely by now, and the scorching sun had taken up its place.

"Hey, I'm Eagle a.k.a Tim Burton. What's your name?"

Eagle's smile was innocuous enough, but Alex's was not. He smiled, somewhat mockingly, before making a show of wiping his definitely _not _sweating palms on the sides of his khaki uniform. "My name's Alex, and yours is obviously not Tim Burton, I know that much". He laughed nervously. Eagle gave him a bright smile again. "No, obviously not, my name is Timothy. Timothy Hawks. But you can call me Tim if you want to, just try not to more, call me Eagle, only permitted to call code names in camp, you see. You're new here, you probably need to know everything around…" _Timothy_ began babbling on about something or the other. Alex's lip curled, though he tried not to show it. How easily these soldiers wore their hearts on their sleeves. What exactly would happen if it all came crashing down?

Eagle's mood lifted as they approached the was so overjoyed that he started to hum 'Happy' under his breath, earning him amused looks from a few of the other soldiers, who, unfortunately, knew him. He stopped humming when he saw Wolf. Uh oh. Wolf looked positively _livid. _Damn. He was dead. "WHAT THE FUCKING HELL EAGLE!" Wolf screamed in rage, arms flailing everywhere. Then his voice lowered to a pleasant, syrupy, baritone. 'Eagle, sweetheart(_Sweetheart. This was bad.), _might I ask why you thought it a good idea to dye my hair _**pink, **_mess with my coffee, and stitch my blanket in the form of a _**heart!**_ Who even thought it would be a good idea to teach _**you**__,_ of all people stitching‽" Eagle whimpered. "I'll have you know that grammie is a respectable person in society!"he cried out in indignation. "You talkin' to me?You talkin to me? Because I can't actually hear you, you see? Wolf drawled, looking bored. "Don't you hear sincerity in my voice when I talk? I'm hurt. I HATE YOU FOR LIFE!" Eagle shrieked, before running off.

A sigh. "I'm sorry about that. Eagle acts like a buffoon sometimes. Anyway, I'm Wolf. You?" Alex gave a friendly if albeit somewhat guarded smile. "I'm Jaguar, your new teammate." The smile dropped away abruptly. "Wait, **you're **our new teammate? You, a scrawny runt of a kid? We're among the best and I _will not _have you fucking up everything. Get out. You don't _deserve _to be here among us." Scornful pride coloured his tone.

Alex's mask dropped somewhat, allowing cruelty to seep into his eyes and tone. "Wolf, dear, appearances aren't everything, are they? I thought you would know better than most, considering you were _**abused**_ as a child. Perhaps you are no better than the ignorant masses. You don't _deserve _to be in the SAS." He threw his own words back at Wolf, derision written clearly on his face.

**Here it is. Another short, short chapter. Let me tell you, I hate the ending, and the chapter in general, because my brain is not functioning well enough to think. I tried drinking a bit, (you're allowed to drink here even if under the age limit, as long as its at home) and it was a baad idea. Meh. Oh, and listen to Battle Scars! It's the song of the um. Chapter?**

**Reviews will make me write longer and better.**

**~Nikita**


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